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hi there, everyone. i'm tamron hall. we're following the kickback 24 hours after president obama's am nishs proposal to curb gun violence. mayors from mayor cities are in d.c. right now meeting with vice president joe biden discussing the president's proposals. meantime, as this huffington post headline states, fury by some on the far right as the nra you might say is sticking to their guns rejecting the president's ideas. the nra's also defending the much-criticized ad that mentions the president's daughters. here's nra president david keene just this morning a couple of hours ago on the "today" show. it is not about the president's daughters. >> the ad mentions the president's daughters. >> keeping children safe, savannah. you get in to a bidding match. we shouldn't have a 30-round

magazine or a 20 round. the president says let vees a ten. the governor of new york says, well, i can top that. we'll have a seven-round magazine. this is all sort of makes you feel good but, in fact, it doesn't do much. now, if you are out there and if you're crazy and if you've got a gun like this and if you're going to shoot people with it, it takes a second or so to change the magazines. >> and president obama also has an op-ed in today's "connecticut post" saying the truth is there's only one voice powerful enough to make it happen. yours. if you think we suffered too much pain to allow it to continue, put down the paper, turn off the computer and get your members of congress on record. the white house has also launched a white house in the twitter handle now is the time. just out in the past hour, results showing the nra is more popular compared to the entertainment industry. 41% view the nra as favorable

while just 23% view the entertainment industry as favorable. let me bring in the political panel this hour. today with us, strategist chris cofinis, nia mf malika he understander son and michael smerkonish. michael, your reaction to that poll, the comparison between the nra and the entertainment industry and how the numbers are shaking out there. what do you make of this? >> i think there's a huge disconnect. i said to you, tamron, i answer the phone for a living. i speak to people across the country for hours on end and i think there's great enthusiasm among the public for a lot of the initiatives that the president put forth yesterday, not the least of which is background checks, assault rifles, far less so, but i think some of the agenda is doable, at least according to the component parts. >> why do you believe that to be the case with david keene on with savannah guthrie this

morning rejecting the idea of universal background, when you look at the people who talk odds in washington, d.c., the idea of a universal background check as proposed by the president they saw as having i believe a number around 75%? we knew that the nra and gun rights okay viss reject a ban but what's the argument behind a universal background check? >> the evidence that i look to, you know, they say all politics is local. philadelphia suburbs one of the great swing districts in the country. two republican members of the congress, congressman fitzpatrick, congressman meahan embraced the concept of background checks and two "rs" saying this is a concept to be comfortable with. i think that's a good sign for people who believe we need this sort of change. >> all right. chris, let me bring you in and read what they had in "the washington post" writing the

lobby that is purport to speak for gun owners while actually representing the interests of manufacturers don't care at public think. they try to pretend the president's ideas are radical and shows how perverse the national conversation can become when those who speak in the name of civility and bipartisanship give anymore to timdity and the lobby is afraid of the facts and the evidence and why one of the most important actions the president took to end the ban on research in to gun violence by the centers for disease control and prevention and the weapons lobly forced tlau compliant congress. e.j. talking about the fact that progressives and some democrats given up on gun legislation in the years past. now you have this new fire. what he hits on, chris, so interesting is the rejection of even studying gun violence as a result of the lobby and the force of the nra. they don't want to look at the science of the numbers and i instantly thought about climate change.

this rejection of facts, numbers. not of opinions but numbers. >> there's truth to that. you don't fight research unless you're worried what the research says. you know, you hear these arguments all the time, in particular from, you know, the nra leadership and others, in particular, in terms of this is not just about guns but a lot of other issues and there's some truth to that and focus on the entertainment industry and the role of video games. well, the last time i checked they watch the same movies and play the same video games in canada and don't have the same kind of violence here in terms of guns so there is an issue here about gun violence and the question is how do we come up with, you know, common sense reforms that obviously respect the second amendment and make sure that we can do maybe go an extra step to protect individuals so when you're fighting against universal background checks as an example, you know you have a problem. >> well, but part of the problem and e.j. touched upon and other progressives is, quite honestly,

with some of the democrats. they fear will not stand up and be as passionate or as ambitious or bold as some believe the president was yesterday. i'll point to, for example, harry reid. his response was described as tepid saying i'm committed to ensuring that the senate will consider legislation that addresses gun violence and others a pecks of violence in the society earlier this year and also said in an interview before the president had spoken that he didn't want to bring up legislation to vote that he didn't think would pass and that is a concern of, for example, i go back to e.j. and some others that the democrats as bill maher and others have said will not have a spine on this when the american people seem to be fortifying the spine for a fight, those that believe there needs to be some common sense legislation to come forward. >> i think there's pressure on the senators, a lot of them in red states to support some types, you know, of gun reforms,

whether that's, you know, whether the legislation is piecemeal meaning it's a single piece of legislation on universal background checks or something more broad that talks about an assault weapons ban. but i think what i would say to a lot of these red state democrats and how you talk about it. and it's what you focus on. and if you're focusing on taking away weapons, you will have some backlash but common sense reforms at the same time respecting the second amendment, people will listen and that's an important thing to make a distinction about. >> that's interesting that chris believes that people will listen. i grew up in texas and i love my state as much as anyone else i would imagine loves their home with all of its flaws. but texas republican governor rick perry, talk about how you talk to people and who you can negotiate and the mind-set of what's been described as the fringe in the republican party, he is recommending prayer rather than change in gun laws.

i go to church as much as possible but i mean, when you talk about, for example, he says the law's the only redoubt of secularism will not suffice. let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. again, not to dispa raj religion and i believe you guide your life the way you do but this is a lawmaker talking about let's turn to prayer. how do you have a reasonable conversation when someone sees that as the be all, end all solution there? not a rejection of religion but talking about laws here. >> yeah. we are. one of the things you see from this president and this commission that biden had is they're reaching out to faith leaders to have them to be a part of the conversation. >> not telling them to pray. they're saying talk to your people, go to the church and get the laus. you know? >> that's right. but i do think perry's statements, you're from texas. i'm from south carolina. i think it is a reach for some of these folks in these states,

red state democrats to figure out how to talk about this legislation. you saw from the president. he didn't say gun control. he talked about gun violence. and they're very much making the point that this isn't about taking people's guns away. it's about reducing gun violence. i do think he'll have to sit down with senators like kay hagen, senators like mark pry you your up for re-election to talk about this. i think, also, that even if the president loses on the assault weapons ban, he wins because this is where the country is going on guns. you look at most of the polls. shows that 58% or so i think, our poll shows that most people do want a gun ban but i think he is facing a big geographical divide. >> i want to get back to the nra ad. you have david keene on this morning, still defending the ad saying it is not about malea and

sasha obama and "the washington post" gave them four pinnochios for the ad and one thing they point to is the ad says that the president skeptical about armed security guards in school when in the interview the president had with david gregory he said he was skeptical it's the only answer is putting more guns in school. that was the exact quote that they have pointed out. they then go on to talk about the security at sidwell school and say that the numbers or this image that's purported in this web ad is also not correct. that there's no such armed guards there. to take the president's words out of context, michael, to misrepresenting this armed force that they were implying is at the school of these children and then pretending that they weren't talking about the president's children when it was clear of that case, does that only appeal to the fringe or do you have some moderate

republicans, michael, out there and they see it was a misrepresentation and that it crossed some kind of line? >> fringe. in a word. i think it plays to the fringe only. playing dirty and you left something off that list, which is, it conflates the security needs of my children with the security needs of the president's two daughters. he's the commander in chief. you know? he is the leader of the free world and presum bring goes with the territory that the first family requires protection. i think everybody understands that and it's an apples to oranges comparison when you try and equate our kids and their needs with his. >> so nea-malika, i hate referring to them as fringe but seeing a ad like that and you see that as an amen moment or listen to the president or not yesterday and you start talking ant and some lawmakers referred to him as king obama and tyranny, is that fringe or is that a larger portion of the nra's supporters and not just

its leadership? >> well, i think it's a little of both. they have a longer ad which is about four minutes and as they sort of lay out the double down on this idea of the president's kids, mentioned david gregory's kids, as well. they have a ticker showing the nra membership going up because of the fight. the nra in this ad, it isn't about truth but propaganda. it is about ginny up support of gun lobby, for buying guns. it's about ginnying up a membership and donors to that organization. and they do that very well. i mean, i think historically, when's happened to the nra is the court controversy and in that way they become more powerful because they're able to swell their membership. >> so in fairness, chris, i won't ask you relating to republicans but to some democrats, joe manchin's comments regarding the president said i'm disappointed the president did not recommend the creation of a national commission on mass violence as i proposed.

max bacchus said we need a law in montana instead of one size fits all directive of washington. not the fringe republicans, not behind the nra ad, but still, similar talking points from them that would fall with some of the things we have heard out of the nra, chris. does your party or some within your party need -- since rick perry said it's about prayer, do they need a come to jesus moment, as well? >> here's the challenge. when you're a red state democrat, you know, you have a very different perspective. >> but everything changed after newtown. how many times have we heard that? >> absolutely, absolutely. and i think the question is, you know, i won't -- i can't speak for senator manchin or the other senate democrats but i think they want a more obviously comprehensive approach. what i would say to them is that's fine. and that's a good thing. but at the same time, you've got

to take steps that address the problem. and the problem right now, we have is one that it relates to guns. not the entire problem. it's not going to solve the entire problem but we have to consider these things and if we say that, no, we won't consider, for example, universal background checks, won't consider reducing the size of magazines, we won't consider assault weapons bans, that's a problem. i think the challenge for us politically in order to get democrats and republicans the try to come together is what type of legislation has different pieces that they can support? it is an enormous political challenge and why i think the white house is so aggressive about trying to mobilize grass roots support about it. >> if anyone doubted it, we have seen a variety of reaction in 24 hours that predicted by the president would happen and we have seen it in full scale in 24 hours since the proposals came out. thank you. always a pleasure. i'll see you all soon, thank you. >> thank you. coming up, following developing news about the

hostage crisis involving at least three americans in algeria. president obama being briefed regularly we're told on the situation. in fact, right now, waiting to hear of secretary of state hillary clinton. stay with us. we'll bring you the latest on what she is saying regarding the americans. plus, president obama begins the second term in less than a week. four years ago, 26% of americans believed the country was headed in the right direction. well, now, 41% agree with that statement. nbc's first read team tackles the question, we heard it over and over again in the election. is this country better off now than it was four years ago? how would you answer it? join our conversation on twitter. give me your answers on our account. here's what happened... i was talking to my best friend. i told her i wasn't feeling like myself... i had pain in my pelvic area...

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welcome back. following developing news. the white house today would not confirm the status of at least three americans taken hostage by islamic militants during an attack on a bp oil field in algeria. pentagon officials now are also refusing to comment on reports that americans were among some hostages who reportedly escaped during a rescue attempt. >> unfortunately, the best information we have at this time as i said indicates that u.s. citizens are among the hostages but we don't have at this point more details to provide to you. we're certainly concerned about reports of loss of life and are seeking clarity from the government of algeria. >> militants say it's payback for france pounding targets in mali with the help of american

drones. aman, we are getting dribs and drabs and not a lot of confirmation and quite honestly they don't, meaning u.s. officials, scrambling to find out what happened. a report said a spokesperson for the group said 25 hostages freed. six others killed. we don't know if that's true or where this is coming from. >> we don't. in fact, a short time ago, a news agency which is in touch with the rebels or the militant group that took these people hostages reporting that 35 hostages had been killed in a military operation. we know that the algerian military did attempt to rescue the hostages. whether that was a spontaneous moment of opportunity, they tried to seize or whether or not it was, you know, a preplanned assault to free them, we don't know. they're tight lipped but a military operation went on and it seems from the developments there's bad news in the coming hours. >> back to the source of all of

this, france and launching the attack in mali, we knew at the beginning of the week that these al qaeda groups were threatening to launch a terrorist attack in france. those were the headlines i believe as of monday. >> yeah. >> here we are with this situation in algeria. for our audience who don't quite understand how we got to this point, backtrack a little bit for us. >> in march of last year, there was a coupe in mali and broke down the state and with the breaking down of the state and the military, there's an emergence group of al qaeda groups in the north of the country. we have seen the rise of militant groups similar to afghanistan and iraq during the past ten years emerge in the western part of africa. these groups capitalized on a sense of lawlessness, weak states and the experience of the terrain and you have a fertile

ground for emergence al qaeda. >> you have experts keeping an eye on the region and they have been sounding the alarm, ayman for a long time, throughout africa. >> absolutely. >> we focus on somalia and other parts of africa and yemen, as well. other parts of the middle east. but this is one of those areas that people feared would flare up sooner or later. >> you ignore the regionsali s your own peril. western europe focusing on their own economic crisis. you can't afford to watch the failed states allow for this type of dangerous environment to fester. >> that's what happened in afghanistan. it left this opening for -- >> absolutely. always comes back to haunt the larger strategic interests. not just militarily but politically, economically, socially. >> absolutely. thank you very much. great pleasure having you on. thank you. we are still waiting to hear

from the notre dame line backer, manti te'o after the football star claimed that he was the victim of a cruel and elaborate joke with a girlfriend that never existed. this story is a straight-up lifetime movie. >> the single most trusting human being i ever met will not be able to trust again in the same way in his life. that's incredible tragedy. >> but the question is, was te'o in on this hoax? the edge of sports dave zirin is following every single detail. he will join us with the latest. we know where te'o is reportedly this hour. here's a look at how the dow is shaping up, up 120 points. we'll be right back. ♪ [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ]

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that's the notre dame football star who claims that he was the victim of a quote sick joke. the heisman trophy finalist could speak at some point we're told today. notre dame says it is leaving it up to him to clear up the controversy that's become one of the biggest stories that's buzzed about to date in the country if you can believe. people question whether he was part of a e lack rat scheme that led everyone to believe he lost his grandmother and girlfriend within days of each other to cancer. deadspin broke the story with the headline that reads, the most heartbreaking story of college football season is a hoax. john yang gins us live from south bend, indiana. notre dame is saying it's up to te'o and he is in florida, right? >> reporter: that's right. well, he is -- actually, notre dame tells us that he is staying in florida. the nfl combine camp where he's preparing for the nfl draft and future life in the nfl.

you know, his story had seemed straight out of a hollywood movie. star player here at notre dame who led his team to a spectacular season after the twin tragedies. but now it turns out that's all it was, a story. manti te'o's story seemed destined to take its place along a storied team. after an undefeated season that ended at the national championship game. inspiring teammates and becoming a campus hero triumphing over twin tragedies. the lonsz the same day in september of his grandmother and girlfriend who died after battling lukemia, a story he told on espn's "college game day" in october. >> the most beautiful girl i have ever met. not because of her physical beauty but the beauty of her,

her character. you know, who she is. >> reporter: but she never existed. a fact first reported by the website deadspin.com. >> it was a story unimaginable and here was someone to say check because he heard she exist. >> reporter: the story of the doomed girlfriend formed a plot line told by te'o and the family. in an october newspaper story, the father said they locked eyes after a notre dame game at stanford in 2009 and then the near fatal car crash last year, subsequent leukemia diagnosis and death hours after his grandmother died. >> she would talk about my grandmother. trying to console me and i was just out of it. and last thing she said to me was, i love. >> >> reporter: te'o in florida preparing for the nfl draft issued a statement saying they met online and only communicated by phone. to realize that i was the victim of what was apparently someone's

sick joke and constant lies was and is painful and humiliating. at a news conference, the notre dame athletic director choked with emotion. >> the single most trusted human being i ever met will not never be able to trust the same way again is a tragedy. >> reporter: school officials said he discovered the deception in early september and said he told coaches later. they got the final report january 4th, two days before they lost the national championship to alabama. >> we encouraged them to try to focus forward an enon the game and not -- not draw attention backwards if he could. >> reporter: the athletic director speculates that te'o victim of catfishing. using social media to create a false identity, the subject of a series on mtv. for the journalist who broke the story, no twist could be too farfetched. >> given how much of a surprise we have learned is, i'm hesitant

to guess where this story's going to go. >> reporter: there is still no word when or even whether we're going to hear from te'o himself and add details about this story but here in south bend, officials say it's out of their hands. now that he signed a professional agent, he's now considered as far as they're concerned no longer a student athlete. he's now a professional athlete. tamron? >> okay. thank you very much, john. let's bring in dave zirin for edge of sports.com. he is no longer a student athlete. they say he's a professional athlete. do you buy that? are their hands washed? >> absolutely not. nobody, no matter where you fall on this watching the athletic director press conference last night would say otherwise. jack tied himself to manti te'o last night. left himself no wriggle room. said that notre dame had done their own private internal

investigation and that he was satisfied with the theory that manti te'o is just victim of an elaborate hoax. he tied himself to that theory without any space between that and the idea that maybe manti te'o might have been part of the rus. i got to tell you, this raises much larger questions about the culture of complicity and cover-up in notre dame football which i have written about. there have been so horrible thing that is have happened connected to this program. >> let me stop you there with the cover-up. you believe that notre dame -- because it's interesting after te'o says that he learned, a woman called him and said i'm not dead and he realized that he was the victim of something, he gave an interview where he talked again about a girlfriend dying of cancer and his grandmother and even after he claims he learned of this hoax, he went on to talk about this girlfriend that didn't exist. you believe that notre dame covered this up because they would be embarrassed, as well, as he says he is in this

statement given snout. >> i think it's a reflex over two weeks. i think whether -- we don't know. let's lay it out for people. either manti te'o is the most trusting soul that existed on the face of the earth, so trusting he was willing to nurse his girlfriend who he had never met through leukemia until she died by staying on the phone with her for eight hours and listening to her breathe, either all of that is true and he should be studied in a lab as a most saintly person that existed in the history of time, or he's a part in some way, shape or form of this story. why he would be a part of this ruse is left to wild conjecture. the internet is having fun with that. i don't think it's fun at all. >> i don't want to get in to what the people are saying on the internet but was this about a heisman, about the image and the storyline? we all love "rudy" and the sports hero shows incredible, i

guess, heroism in the midst of pain or whatever. but was this about the heisman if it turns out that he was in on this? >> it would be all conjecture. all we know is there are people who have come forward anonymously and said that manti te'o, he got caught up in this thing. maybe started as a catfish situation and tried to use it as a benefit to aid the heisman trophy chances and then notre dame, 21-year-olds do dumb things and maybe that's what we'll find out here. a 21-year-old who didn't realize he was getting in way over his head but when you're notre dame and you're an institution that prizes itself as having incredible integrity, as being above the fray, not being like those other colleges, and yet, you become a part of this complicity and come out like the athletic director did with tears in the eyes and say i'm completely confident that manti te'o was wronged here, i'm so sad because the most trusting

soul on earth will never people again, that's a quote of last night. >> right, right, right. >> if that's not true, noter dame has a serious problem on its hands. >> dave, thank you very much. we want to hear from you. do you believe that manti te'o -- do you believe his story? it is the "gut check." we'll tell you how to weigh in. plus, when president obama took office four years ago, the economy was getting smaller. now it is growing. nbc's first read team tries to answer the question -- are we better off now than we were four years ago? they answer it with numbers and not just, you know, gut reaction to things. the numbers. and happy birthday to the first lady and that by the way is just one of the things we thought you should know. hey sis, it's so great to see you. you, too!

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welcome back. as we gear up for the president's second inauguration, are we better off than we were four years ago? the answer depends on the stats you pick. there are plenty of numbers suggesting that the country is on more solid footing than it was when the president took office in 2009. the dow up 5,550 since then, just shy of the 14,000 mark. the economy's growing instead of contracting. in the first quarter of 2009, the gdp contracted and grew 3.1% when measured last. now, though it remains where it was before the great recession, consumer confidence has nearly doubled and a larger percentage of americans, 41% according to our last poll, believe the country's heading in the right direction, up 26% in january 2009. on the other hand, there's other data to support the idea that the country is not much better off and that the struggling economy is taking a toll on families.

median household income, lower than it was in 2009. 46% millions live below the poverty line. more than four years ago. the federal public debt has increased from $10.6 trillion in january 2009 to $16.4 trillion now. there's the big number same as four years ago. the unemployment rate of 7.8%, though it's down from a high of 10% in october 2009. other figures of the last four years. number of u.s. troops in iraq, dropped from nearly 140,000 to 200. as the president fulfilled the promise to end that war. while the u.s. presence in afghanistan increased from 34,000 to 66,000 troops, there are now fewer democrats also serving in the u.s. house of representatives. than there was 257 and now 201 or serving. in the u.s. senate, the caucus of independents is down from 58 to 55 members and in state houses around the country, 2009, 28 democratic governors and now

only 19. joining me live mark murray who apparently spent the entire christmas and new year's holiday putting together these numbers. i enjoy segments like this, mark, because we go to the numbers. it is not about a feeling necessarily. it's not someone pulling things out of the wind. these are actual numbers that we can look at and digest here. first let's talk about the dow because i remember the president after the first inauguration, some networks literally had the dow at the bottom of the screen and saying when the president spoke, the number down and all of these signs that calamity was on the way. >> and you look at the dow and that represents that wall street and the financial sector is in a very, very good situation four years after the great recession. tamron, you look at the numbers right now and the big story has to be that financial collapse, the great recession. and you can say that there are a lot of numbers where the country's financial footing, the

economy is on so much better ground than it was exactly four years ago or right after that financial collapse. but a lot of those other numbers what it shows the median household income, americans who are living below the poverty line and see the results, the great recession that are still with us. almost lagging indicators. >> that cannot be ignored. you have what we have always said or the numbers have shown, wall street doing well and the people at home suffering. especially those who are the poorest in this nation. and that i believe is a part of what we saw with the outrage against wall street and we saw the protests in the 99% movement that we witnessed there, mark. and these numbers show that that is a real concern with numbers to back it up. >> there's no doubt that one part of this economy is recovered a whole lot quicker than a lot of other americans right now but, tamron, i think the bigger story and this

statistical analysis over a four-year period, more important to see where things are come 2016 after eight years. and if the unemployment rate is still at 7.8%, you could say, well, you know, president obama's economic record wasn't that great coming to the unemployment situation but if it's at 5%, if it's at 6%, come 2016, you can actually see a very, very big narrative what's going on and so i think we get a snapshot of the last four years but the bigger, broader picture of the great recession, president obama's policies, everything will -- you have to wait almost now years for that. >> thank you so much. i greatly appreciate it. >> thanks. aviation officials around the world ordered airlines to stop flying boeing 787s after the faa grounded the planes in the u.s. we'll get the latest on when's going on with these planes. and be sure to check out the news nation tumblr page. you can get a peek at what goes

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faa's lead and grounded the boeing 787 dreamline effectively grounding nearly all of the world's 50 operating 787s. the faa ordered a complete safety review of the planes before they're allowed to fly again. yesterday, a flight in japan forced to make an emergency landing when a smoke alarm went off in the cockpit and just last week a fire broke out on a plane in boston. investigators are now focusing on the batteries used in the airliner and whether they may be prone to overheating. joining me now from chicago, phil lebeau reports for cnbc. with the faa, phil, how long will this take, the complete safety review? >> reporter: well, the complete review is different than the directive saying the planes are grounded. the more important one is the grounding by the faa. boeing is working with the faa to clear it up as soon as

possible. it's little too soon to say that's going to happen but the direction they're moving. here's why it's so important, tamron. look at the demand for the dreamliner amongst airlines. there are 57 what boeing calls customers and 95% of these are airlines. or companies that lease out airplanes. they have ordered 798 dreamliners that need to be built, 50 delivered and the expectation in the industry, tamron, for years after this backlog is built, by the end of the decade, you will see more dreamliners built so this is critical for bioing to get past this grounding as quickly as possible and get the dreamliner back in the air. >> back to what they believe is the problem here, the batteries, useded in airliner, can you give me more information on why they're focused there? >> reporter: well, the lithium ion batteries failed in boston and japan with the emergency

landing and when they're looking at the batteries, did they fail because, a, they were from the bad batch at the same time? was there a component that was flawed in the manufacturing process? or was there something wrong with the wiring? what they're doing now is looking at the two failures and seeing what similarities exist between the failures. that's how they go back and say, a-ha, we think we found the problem and here's the solution. >> all right. phil, live for us in chicago, thanks a lot, phil. up next, wow. we want to hear from you about this story. one of the most talked about stories of the day. do you believe notre dame linebacker manti te'o when he says he was the victim of a hoax? a lot of you have sent in your tweets. some of you say it's none of our business. others are saying this guy's not coming clean with the truth. it's a "news nation" gut check. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters?

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there's a lot going on today. here's some things we thought you should know. ebay and craigslist have agreed to stop scalpers from selling inauguration tickets. stubhub has already done so. tickets -- people get from the members of congress are free online. they were being offered up, not offered up, sold for $2,000 each. senator john kerry's confirmation hearing is set for next thursday. he'll appear before the senate foreign relations committee which he's chaired since 2009. kerry is expected to easily be confirmed. before monday's inauguration, the obama family had something else to celebrate. today's the first lady's 49th birthday. requested what the president is planning, white house press secretary jay carney said he

didn't want to ruin the surprise and those are the things we just thought you should know. fun video. time now for the "gut check." manti te'o is now we're told in florida preparing for the nfl draft. but his future's uncertain because of the controversy surrounding what he claims is a sick joke. that's what he called it. notre dame says it's no longer talking about it but we could hear from the star linebacker sometime today who built the image in part from the story that he lost his grandmother and girlfriend within hours of each other but we now know that the girlfriend didn't exist. te'o claims that he was duped by someone online and only spoke over the internet and by phone to this imaginary girlfriend. but here's the thing. two days after he learned she was alive and tricked, he said he was sad about her death.

what does your gut tell you? do you believe manti's story? maybe he's super naive football player and social skills not up what someone else his age perhaps would be. we're debating this in our room right now. go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote. take a look at what the "news nation" is saying about yesterday. will house republicans give any support to any of the president's proposals to curb gun violence? 8% of you said, yes. 92%, big no. wow. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'll see you tomorrow. catch us every weekday 2:00 p.m. eastern time here on msnbc. to keep in contact with us off air, twitter, facebook. "the cycle" is up next. get the skills, the savings, and the supplies they need -

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